Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Eli Lilly To Spend $2.1 Billion On New Drug-Making Plants In Indiana
AP: Lilly Plans New $2.1 Billion Manufacturing Sites In Indiana
Eli Lilly and Company plans to invest $2.1 billion in two new Indiana manufacturing sites, a move that’s expected to create hundreds of new jobs in the Hoosier state, the company announced Wednesday. The new facilities will expand the Indianapolis-based company’s manufacturing network for active ingredients and new therapeutic drugs, including those used to treat diabetes, obesity, Alzheimer’s and cancer, Lily officials said during a news conference at the governor’s residence. (Smith, 5/25)
Indianapolis Star: Eli Lilly Announces $2.1B Manufacturing Expansion In Boone County
Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly & Co. is expanding in Indiana, announcing Wednesday a $2.1 billion investment to build to two manufacturing sites side-by-side in Boone County. The project is expected to result in 500 high-paying jobs, said CEO and President Dave Ricks. The sites will be located in the LEAP Lebanon Innovation and Research District. The Indiana Economic Development Corp is exploring purchasing land for a large-scale research and innovation park. The project is pending local approvals. (Burris, 5/25)
In other pharmaceutical industry news —
AP: Tentative $161.5M Settlement Reached In WVa Opioid Trial
Attorneys for the state of West Virginia and two remaining pharmaceutical manufacturers have reached a tentative $161.5 million settlement just as closing arguments were set to begin in a seven-week trial over the opioid epidemic, Attorney General Patrick Morrisey said Wednesday. Morrisey announced the development in court in the state’s lawsuit against Teva Pharmaceuticals Inc., AbbVie’s Allergan and their family of companies. The judge agreed to put the trial on hold to give the parties the opportunity to work out a full settlement agreement in the upcoming weeks. (Raby, 5/25)
San Francisco Chronicle: Using Antibiotics To Prevent STIs Found Effective In Early S.F. Study Results
UCSF researchers studying the use of antibiotics to prevent sexually transmitted infections in high-risk individuals abruptly stopped enrolling new participants in a clinical trial this month after early results showed the intervention was effective and it would be unethical not to offer it more widely. The full study results won’t be presented until this summer at the International AIDS Conference in Canada, and questions remain about how safe antibiotics-as-prevention will be in the long run, including whether regular use of them could lead to more drug-resistant bacteria, researchers said. (Allday, 5/25)
Stat: New Off-The-Shelf Cancer Vaccine Reduces Metastasis In Mice
About 15 years ago, cancer researchers noticed a trend. Some of the patients they were following had advanced tumors but were surviving a surprisingly long time with an experimental treatment. One of the things they had in common was a specific type of antibody, which seemed to give the immune system a leg up. That was noteworthy, because many cancer treatments depend on how tumors and immune cells fare as they face off in an elaborate game of cat-and-mouse. Normally, a cell in distress will display a protein on its surface, a kind of chemical alarm, flagging down the immune system like an orange spray-paint X marking a diseased tree for removal. The same is true of cancer cells: Their DNA damage makes them prime targets for culling. But many evolve to shed those alarm molecules, which helps them escape the immune system’s notice. The patients who were doing well had antibodies that could prevent that sloughing off. (Boodman, 5/25)
